Leigh Dunker of Warner may have been the best horseshoe player in state history. He certainly had the state championships to back it up. In fact, he had a total of 35 state horseshoe pitching titles between 1934 and 1989.
Dunker was born in 1915 and grew up on a farm right outside of Warner. His father played horseshoes, so it was only natural that Dunker would also learn about the game at a young age. During their daily chores on the farm, the father and son pair would often practice on their way to and from the barn.
At just 19-years old, Leigh Dunker won his very first state championship. And in 1940, he set state records in ringer percentage in a qualifying round (84%), ringer percentage in one game (87%), and ringer percentage in a tourney (71.2%). These are records that he still holds to this day. Dunker also won eleven straight 50-point match games.
Eight of his 35 state titles even came after the age of 60-years old. Dunker was good, really good, and those involved in horseshoes in South Dakota knew him well. But he wasn’t known as well at the national level.
Dunker never competed for a national title at the World Championships event, but it wasn’t because he didn’t have the skill. The top tournament in the nation typically occurred in the fall, and since Dunker was a farmer, his priorities that time of year were always on the harvest season.
In 1986, the Aberdeen American News wrote that “Leigh Dunker was to horseshoe pitching what Willie Shoemaker was to horse racing and what Jack Nicklaus is to golf.” Shoemaker and Nicklaus obviously being icons in their respected sports.
Sports Illustrated presented Leigh Dunker with their Award of Merit in 1974 and in 1975, the state of South Dakota named him their Independent Athlete of the Year.
Dunker passed away in 1993, but his legacy lives on today in both the South Dakota Hall of Fame and the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.
